Stefan Uros III of Serbia

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Saint King Stefan of Dečani (in sebian:Свети краљ Стефан Дечански) was Serbian king from 1321 to 1331. His feast Day is November 11/24. Altough his ful name was Stefan Uroš III , (Stefan in honour of St. Stephen Patron Saint of Serbia, Uroš in honour of his grandfather Stefan Uroš I), he is canonised as Saint Stefan of Dečani, King of Serbia.

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Early life

Saint Stefan was born the only son of the saintly King Milutin (Stephen Uros II) and his first wife Jelena Serbian noblewoman.
Living at the court of his father, the heir-apparent received a good education, his mind exercised by study of the language and writings of his people, and his heart strengthened by study of the Holy Scripture and the teachings of the Orthodox Faith.
The good fruit of his upbringing proved itself when King Milutin was forced to send him as hostage to the Tartar chief Nogyi. In spite of the potential dangers, Stephen was obedient to his father's will and did not resist, trusting his life to the Lord. And his hope was not in vain. He eventually made friends with one of the Tartar nobles, who succeeded in assisting his safe return home.

When Stephen came of age, his father arranged that he marry the daughter of the Bulgarian King Smilec, Teodora, and the young couple were given the land of Zeta, where they settled until such a time as Stefan would be called to succeed his father to the throne.

Egzile

King Milutin had remarried, and his new wife, Simonide, plotted in order that one of her brothers inherit the throne.. She convinced Milutin that Stefan wanted to seize the throne prematurely, and the deceived Milutin ordered that his son be captured, that he be blinded to ensure that he never again entertain such treachery, and that he be sent as a prisoner to Constantinople.
The young king ( his official title) was taken together with his children, Dušan and Dušica, and when they were passing through Ovče Polje , the guards took red hot pokers and blinded him. That night St. Nicholas appeared to Stefann in a dream: "Be not afraid," he said, "your eyes are in my hands." Comforted not a little by this vision, the sightless Stefan arrived in Constantinople. The Emperor Andronicus pitied the young exile, and received him graciously. He was soon settled in the monastery of Pantocrator, where he impressed the monks by his meekness and his longsuffering acceptance of the bitter trial that had come to him through his own father.
Five years passed. King Milutin was growing old. Hearing good reports about his son, his heart softened, and he called Stefan home to Serbia. Before leaving Constantinople, Stefan had a dream in which St. Nicholas appeared to him a second time, holding in his hand a pair of eyes. When he awoke, his sight was restored.

Rule

Three years later, his father died, and Stefan, always popular with the people, was crowned King of Serbia by the Archbishop St. Nikodim in Peć Monastery on Teophany January 6, 1322. His official title was Stefan Uroš III king of Serbia and Coastlands His brother Konstantin, resented this turn of events, and raised an army in order to wrest the throne away from Stefn. Desiring to avoid bloodshed, King Stephen addressed a letter brother:
"Put far from thee thy desire to come with a foreign people to make war on shine own countrymen; but let us meet one another, and thou shalt be second in my kingdom, for the land is great enough for me and thee to live. I am not Cain who slew his brother, but Joseph who loved him, and in his words I speak to thee. Fear not, for I am from the Lord. You prepared evil for me, but the Lord has given me good, as you now see."
Konstantin was unmoved and gave orders to attack. In the ensuing battle, his army was defeated and he himself was slain. For the next ten years, King Stefan ruled in relative peace, and the Serbian land prospered. His son Dušan proved to be an able military leader and was successful in battles with the Bulgarians and the Greeks, who were envious of the now powerful Serbian state and rose up against it. Grateful to the Lord for these victories, King Stefan set about with Archbishop St. Danilo II , Nikodim,s successor, to find a place to build a church. They settled upon a place called Decani, and there, in 1327, King Stefan himself laid the cornerstone for what was to become one of the most magnificent and enduring specimens of Serbian church architecture. Inside it was graced by splendid icons, to which more were added in the sixteenth century by the hand of the celebrated Slav iconographer, Longin

Saint Stefan gave generously to the needy. He also made liberal donations to churches and monasteries on the Holy Mountain, in Jerusalem, Alexandria, and to the monastery of Pantocrator in Constantinople. Nor did he forget his debt to the wonderworker Nicholas: he commissioned a silver altar and sent it together with some icons to the church in Bari, Italy, where the Saint's holy relics are located.

Having in a true Christian manner endured the grievous trials and afflictions which he met through the years, the good king deserved to live out the rest of his life in peace. But it was only fitting that he who suffered as a martyr in life should be granted an opportunity to receive in death a martyr's crown. After he defeated Bulgarians in famous Velbužd batle Stefan did not want to take any Bulgarian teritories.

Detronement and Death

His final trial was the most agonizing. Dušan's successes on the field of battle had given him an appetite for power and glory, and, encouraged by his entourage of nobles, he decided to take the throne. In 1331, St. Stefan was taken prisoner to a fortress in the town of Zvečan and cruelly murdered (by some accounts he was hung, according to another he was strangled). His son did not know that spme nobles want to kill his father. The guilts was soon killed.

Almost immediately Dušan was struck by remorse. He earnestly and tearfully repented of his treachery, and the next year, on the feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, he had his father's remains transferred from Zvečan to Dečani, where they were placed in a marble tomb. Dušan also finished building of his father's foundation. In 1339 the tomb was opened, and his body was found to be incorrupt. That same day saw many miracles of healing. Especially did the holy king prove to heal diseases of the eyes, and at his relics blind people received their sight. Afther this Saint king was canonised. his feast Day is November 11/24.